1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cellular communication systems, and more particularly to a method for optimizing the performance of a mobile communication system and the air field environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a prior art schematic diagram for optimizing the mobile communication system and the air field environments through the use of a DM (Diagnostic Monitor) 30. The mobile station 10 is connected to communication port Com2 of a PC (Personal Computer), and the GPS (Global Positioning System) 20 is connected to Com1 port. The DM 30 is executed on a PC running under an MS DOS operating system 40.
The DM 30 periodically requests predefined data from the mobile station 10 through the Com2 port at step s10, and the mobile station 10 reports the measured data to the DM 30 at step s20. At the same time (step s10), the DM 30 periodically requests GPS information from the GPS 20 through the Com1 port, and receives corresponding information from the GPS at step s30.
The administrator can adjust the scan size of the searcher window by using the direction keys of the PC (right key, left key, etc.) at step s40, and transmit the desired information to the mobile station 10. When log masking is started, the log masked (i.e., necessary) items among the items transmitted from the mobile station 10 and the GPS 20 are collected at step 50. Because the DM 30 operates under MS DOS 40, a maximum of 16 Mbytes can be collected at once. The administrator can modify the screen by selecting the function keys of the PC (F1xcx9cF9) and analyze the received data at step 60.
The call status, the channel, and basic information of the mobile station 10 are displayed on the status display at step 70. The scanned Ec/Io, as large as the size of the search window defined for each PN (Pseudo random Noise) offset received from the mobile station 10, is displayed on the screen of the PC as part of the search information provided by the searcher module of the mobile station at step 80. The searcher module""s function in the mobile station is to store the pilot signals collected from the neighboring BTSs and search the stored signals during a time defined by the search window interval. Here, the search window interval is a constant time interval. The search window interval is resolved in units of searcher position. For example, if a search window size is specified as 100 ms, then the unit of searcher position (i.e., resolution) might be 1 ms, and the mobile station would read and search the stored pilot signals every 1 ms in order to seek a temporal position having the strongest pilot signal. The size of the search window and resolution of the searcher position are searcher information.
Also, the finger information of the mobile station 10 is received and the Ec/Io information for each finger is displayed at step 90. From the AGC (Automatic Gain Control) power information and the frame error information, the transmitting and receiving voice rate, receiving FER (Frame Error Rate), the transmitting and receiving power, and gain adjustment are displayed at steps 120 and 110. From the frame information, the frame information of the paging channel, access channel, reverse traffic channel, forward traffic channel are displayed at step 100.
The prior art is subject to the following problems and disadvantages. First, because the current general OS (Operating System) platforms run under the windows environments, when a user utilizing a windows based PC wants to use the existing MDM (Mobile Diagnostic Monitor) running on a MS DOS OS platform, he must build an extra OS window for the analytical environments, making it inconvenient for measurement and analysis. Second, because the MDM running under MS DOS OS is limited by the size of the RAM for data collection, the capacity to collect data cannot exceed 16 Mbytes. Third, because the prior art MDM runs under MS DOS and the measurement and analysis tool runs under windows, using the tool is therefore inconvenient. Fourth, the prior art is oftentimes subject to erroneous information when collecting data. Because the reliability of logged data is reduced, a function to detect the erroneous information in the data analysis tool is needed. Fifth, the Ec/Io output signals of the various PN offsets are difficult to monitor in environments having multiple signals. Sixth, though the finger information function transmits the Ec/Io of the fingers, the PN offset information of the fingers is difficult to determine. Seventh, the GPS receiving position information is limited to the trimble GPS. Eighth, in the case of checking field environments using the MDM described above, in an area of rapidly changing PN offsets, the data samples are few, and therefore analysis of the sample data is restrictive. Ninth, because the Ec/Io data update rate of the pilot channel is fast, the transition of the pilot strength cannot be instantaneously known using the diagnostic monitor 30. And tenth, because a specific GPS receiver is used, the user also needs the trimble GPS receiver, and this increases overhead cost.
One object of the present invention is to provide a method for optimizing the performance of a code division multiple access system and the air field environments. Optimization of the air field environment may be generally defined as optimizing system variables including finger information, frame error, and AGC power.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for limiting the capacity of collection data only by the size of the hard disk drive and not by the size of the RAM.
In one aspect of the invention, a method for optimizing the performance of the CDMA system and the air field environments comprises: connecting the CDMA mobile station to a PC; connecting the GPS to the PC; operating the DM (Diagnostic Monitor) under a windows OS environment in said PC; requesting data from the mobile station; the mobile station measuring the requested data items and the present system state, and transmitting the measured data to the DM; requesting the data of the present position from the GPS by the DM; transmitting the data of the mobile station""s present position to the DM via the GPS; analyzing the data received from the mobile station via the GPS, by the DM; and displaying the analyzed results.
The operating environment of the test method of the present invention includes the following preferences and assumptions:
1. The DM is preferably an SDM (Samsung Diagnostic Monitor) monitor.
2. The mobile station and the GPS are connected to the PC through respective communication ports of the PC.
3. The DM makes periodic requests for data from the mobile station and the GPS.
4. A manager who manages the DM can adjust the scan size of the searcher window and the output range of the Ec/Io using the direction key of the window.
5. The manager defines the information which he wants to collect, and transmits the defined information as a data request to the mobile station.
6. When the log is started, the log masked items among the items transmitted from the mobile station and the GPS are collected.
7. The display screen to display the analyzed results can be modified by the manager by selecting the corresponding tool bar through the function key or the mouse of the PC.
8. The analyzed results are displayed on the screen through a PN histogram and in accordance with voice activity. The PN histogram can display the Ec/Io histogram for each PN offset per specific time. The voice activity performs its function according to the voice rate.
9. The communication method between the mobile station and the GPS and the DM is asynchronous HDLC (High level Data Link Control) RS-232C.
10. The DM arranges and unifies the checking items when optimizing the field.
11. When the DM is in use, other tools can be concurrently used.
12. The capacity of the DM to collect data is limited only by the capacity of the hard disk drive and not by the size of the RAM.
The information collected and/or displayed as a result of performing the test method of the present invention includes: status display (comprising the basic information of the mobile station, the call status, and the channel); searcher information (Ec/Io information received from the mobile station, the Ec/Io information being scanned in accordance with the size of the windows defined for each PN offset); finger information (displaying the Ec/Io information for each finger when receiving the finger information of the mobile station); AGC (Automatic Gain Control) display information (displaying the transmitting and receiving power and the value of the gain adjustment); frame information (displaying the frame information of the paging channel, the access channel, the reverse traffic channel, and the forward traffic channel); and voice activity information according to the voice rate.